Iceland (Score 1)

Dear Mr. Katz, I am writing in response to the article you published on Slashdot titled "Planet Gattaca: God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept." After reading the article I was left with the sense that you have no understanding or appreciation of Icelandic character and had done little no research on Icelandic genome mapping. The mere title itself which includes, "God-Technology:-Building-the-Perfect-Human dept," smacks of sensationalism. I came away from your article with the sense that you had stigmatized the Icelandic people for their role in efforts to map the human genome. This is particularly evident when you say, "...and hope there is some rational discussion somewhere before the corporate lawsuits and patent issues are resolved, and the first genetic research lab starts peddling perfect, cheerful Icelandic babies around the world." Mr. Katz, research your topic thoroughly before you write such inflammatory material. As we speak, Iceland is in the throes of a national debate over this very issue. I quote an article from Anthropology Today, October 1999. "Understandably, Icelanders have been even more attentive. There have been some 700 newspaper articles in the press, 150 television programs, a series of town meetings and endless discussion and debate both within the Parliament and in the shopping centers, cafes and dinner tables of Iceland. Our institutes at Berkeley and Reykjavík have jointly established a web site -- http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/biotech/iceland/ -- where media material and public documents relating to the mapping of the Icelandic human genome are made available and on which a reflective and informed discussion about it can take place." http://www.decode.is/greinar/anthro.htm You, Mr. Katz, are a discredit to individuals in your "profession." You completely abandoned the rules of scientific journalism that demand accuracy and integrity. In the process you have stigmatized an entire nation of people and charged their complicity in "a plot to clone the perfect human." I demand a retraction of your article and at very least an apology to the Icelandic people who are well aware of moral impact of this activity and are very concerned about its consequences. I can recall a few instances in history where individuals were stigmatized because of their ethic origins and I find it hard to believe that you would play party to the same sort of nonsense.